Juliana | |||||
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Juliana in 1981
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Queen of the Netherlands | |||||
Reign | 4 September 1948 (inauguration 6 September) – 30 April 1980 | ||||
Predecessor | Wilhelmina | ||||
Successor | Beatrix | ||||
Prime Ministers | See list | ||||
Born |
Noordeinde Palace, The Hague, Netherlands |
30 April 1909||||
Died | 20 March 2004 Soestdijk Palace, Baarn, Netherlands |
(aged 94)||||
Burial | 30 March 2004 Nieuwe Kerk, Delft, Netherlands |
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Spouse | Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld (m. 1937; her death 2004) |
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Issue |
Beatrix of the Netherlands Princess Irene Princess Margriet Princess Christina |
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House |
Orange-Nassau (official) Mecklenburg (agnatic) |
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Father | Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin | ||||
Mother | Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands | ||||
Religion | Dutch Reformed Church |
Full name | |
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Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina |
Juliana (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌjyliˈjaːnaː]; Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina; 30 April 1909 – 20 March 2004) was Queen of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980.
Juliana was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry. From birth she was heir presumptive to the Dutch throne. She was educated privately. In 1937, she married Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld with whom she had four children: Beatrix, Irene, Margriet, and Christina.
She reigned for nearly 32 years. Her reign saw the decolonization of Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) and Suriname and their independence from the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Upon her death at the age of 94, she was the longest-lived former reigning monarch in the world.
Juliana was born in The Hague on 30 April 1909, the only daughter of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and Prince Henry, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. She was the first Dutch royal baby since Wilhelmina herself was born in 1880. Wilhelmina had suffered two miscarriages and one stillbirth, raising the prospect that the House of Orange-Nassau would die with her. In all likelihood, this would have meant that the Dutch throne would have passed to Prince Heinrich XXXII Reuss of Köstritz, who had very close ties to Germany. Juliana's birth thus assured the royal family's survival. Her mother suffered two further miscarriages after her birth, leaving Juliana as the royal couple's only child.